Navajo Midwives Announce First Native American Birthing Center in the United States

Today we learned via Colorlines that two Navajo midwives from Waterflow, New Mexico, plan on building the first Native American birthing center in the nation.

Nicolle Gonzales and Brittany Simplicio are only two out of fifteen Native American CNMs in the United States. According to Cosmopolitan, Gonzales desires to build the nation's first ever birthing center for Native Americans because she wants to change the "health disparities and issues within Native communities." Gonzales says, "For Native women, it's pre-term delivery, low birth-weight babies, accessing prenatal care in the first trimester, and postpartum depression."

The Changing Woman Initiative started fundraising for the center last year and have launched a GoFundMe campaign. Please share this news with your networks and join Community Well in supporting health equity and holistic support services for individuals and families of all backgrounds. We believe that all families should have equal access to maternal health and wellness services in their communities, as well as healing modalities to meet their needs. We look forward to the future and hope more individuals will join the movement in spreading holistic support services to their communities and across the world.